Somalia Resumes Civil Aviation Control

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- Somalia's Ministry of Air and Land Transport has reopened the Civil Aviation Authority, closed down seven years ago when the UN pulled out of the war-torn country.
At a ceremony held in Mogadishu late Friday, Air and Land Transport Minister Abdi Guled said the Transitional National Government (TNG) decided to reopen the agency after the ministry completed its assessment of its management.
He said from now the Nairobi-based Civil Aviation Unit of the United Nations would no longer control the air space of Somalia.
"It is unacceptable that an independent country's air space should be controlled from abroad," Guled said.
Continued retention of the unit in the Kenyan capital represented another form of looting Somali property, he said, noting that the TNG is a recognized administration that is entitled to control all public property belonging to the Somalia.
The minister said aircraft arriving in Somalia must contact the civil aviation authority in Mogadishu for permission to land, failing which legal action would be taken against owners of the aircraft.